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My recent criteria, in the last few weeks before leaving Germany for more tropical shores, has been to go to the local beer shop, and buy every beer priced at or above about euro 0.85-1.0 per 0.5L bottle. I go maybe twice a week, and in this way choose maybe 8-odd beers each time - thus perhaps 2-3 hopefully good beers to enjoy per night. This selection strategy narrows the field down to about the top 20% or so, of the (maybe) 300-500 beers on offer..

With the idea that expensive should somehow hopefully loosely equate to good, this exercise is intended to give me a last blast through the huge German and central European offering, before heading to Singapore, and being resigned to only getting expensive swill, or hideously expensive imported mediocrity.

This 'Black Abbot' beer was one that came into these criteria, but what a jaw-dropping surprise!

A: Black. But very very dark chestnut when held up to the light. 1/2" pale caramel head that held up well.

S: No discernible smell to me.

T: Truly jaw-dropping. I have never had a beer anywhere approaching this. It is like a cola (Pepsi?), with extra sugar added. It was my first beer of the evening, so I had a clear palette and yet there was nothing in it that would make me identify it as beer, or for that matter any alcoholic drink. If blind-folded, I'd guess sweetened Pepsi. Last guess? Sweetened Pepsi. That is how strange I found it.

M: Like Pepsi

O: Perhaps the most surprising, disappointing, and unpleasant beer I have ever encountered in my life. The 2nd half got poured down the drain, and I cannot even imagine if, never mind when, I might have ever done that before, that dear reader is how dreadful this relatively expensive 'beer' was for me.

Appearance is a deep black-brown with a minimal rocky tan head. Aroma has deep malt character with notes of raisin, burnt sugar, and just a hint of smoke. This just smells "German" too, with notes of melanoidans and flowery noble hops. Taste has some wonderful malty notes of the same character as the aroma....aaand that's where it all ends. This was sooo sweet and overpoweringly cloying that I could not finish this beer. It's got some really wonderful aromas and complex malty flavors but the sweetness is just to overwhelming. Maybe this is intended by the brewer for the style and I just don't get it, or maybe something went horribly wrong between the brewery and my glass. Either way, I really wanted to like this beer because of it's potential. Darn.

T: sweet! Probably the sweetest beer I've ever had. Think, beer soda. Certainly way, way sweeter than is to be expected for a schwarzbier. Other flavor components in there, but the sweetness is just overpowering. I'm drinking this rather cold; if it warms up it is likely to taste even sweeter.

M: too thin and watery; low carbonation.

O - very disappointing beer from a monastic brewery. "ultimate German dark beer" (on label) ... not even close. {The ultimate would be the black beer from the Bavarian Weltenburg Brewery, in my experience).

Picked up a single at Woodman's East here in Madison. Their Bathbeer was decent, thought I'd give this one a go.

Pour was pretty good looking, dark black with a finger of khaki head and some spotty lacing. Smell is pungent, sweet chocolate and coffee malts, with some mustiness. Taste is where this one gets lost, real lost. As some have aptly stated before, flavors of flat diet soda and old coffee with afterficial sweetener dominate here, very cloying. I actually shuddered with the first few sips. I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one, put the rest in the freezer as it was getting worse as it warmed and I'm not one to waste a brew, no matter how bad. A real disappointment here as I've come to appreciate a good schwarzbier. Sad. Anyway, I'd say if you're into day-old diet pepsi off-flavors in your beer, this is right up your alley. Otherwise steer clear, towards something like Sprecher's Black Bavarian, a black diamond in the rough.

The brewers aren't kidding around when they call this a black beer; no light penetrates through my mug. This lager foams up real good and and leaves a nice little ring of foam. The aroma is quite wonderful, suggesting cocoa and bits of charcoal. This is ever so silky smooth schwarzbier is quite sweet, with a lot of cola-like sweetness from the start to the finish. This beer loses its carbonation quickly and ends up tasting a bit like a flat RC cola. There's actually a bit of jager-like spicines and flavor to this beer. Perhaps the addition of a small amount of licorice? Still, this beer may be a bit too sweet for my taste.

Overall, a very interesting schwarz for sure and one that may scare some people (especially hopheads) away, but is worth trying.

50cL bottle. Pours black with mahogany tinges; thick, fluffy taupe head. Strong chocolaty malt aromas with some metallic notes on the nose. Taste is incredibly sweet; very cola-like without much malt character. Slightly fruity finish. Medium bodied with very little carbonation. Way too sweet to be drinkable--actually poured this one down the drain after finishing half of it.

This is a true ‘schwarzer’ beer, it is black: well almost anyway. Very dark brown really: with a lighter brown head that produces good lacing as the beer level falls.

The smell and tastes are very similar: sweet. Malty molasses dominate both with a nut chocolate bar feel. The bodyfeel was OK, even with only 3.9%ABV it held together well and seemed rich and almost creamy in texture.

Overall the beer is just too sweet and although I enjoyed the first half of the bottle it was a chore to finish it: in fact I passed it around the table for my wife and two friends to try, sickly sweet was mentioned in their thoughts.

Picked this up while on vacation in Berlin. Deep black pour with nice caramel colored head. Nose had a tinge of bacon to it but not really much else going on. The taste blew me away. I just reviewed a German Porter that was over the top sweet for the style but this was even worse! Almost all the German Schwarzbier I've had has been great. But this was straight up cola beer. I at least got half way through the Porter before having to pour it out, but this was almost immediately going into the sink. This was one of the worst German beers I've ever had!

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1/4" brown head above the opaque dark brown/black brew. Head quickly fades down to an uneven layer of bubbles, with sticky light brown lacing. Aroma is sweet dark malts. Taste is the sweetest brew I have had in forever. Like dropping a sugarcube into a shot of schwartzbier and drinking that. Yuck. Mouthfeel and drinkability suffer the same fate. Will not be revisiting this, ever. I'd rather drink tasteless swill.

Had high hopes for this after seeing how it was brewed in a monestary and all. I had a german hefe weisse just before this and couldn't believe the taste of this. Cleansed my palate and started over affirming the flat Dr. Pepper taste of this undrinkable "beer". Poured it down the drain.

Cool 500ml bottle so I thought I'd give it a try. Color is black as night, opaque, with a thin tan head.

Smell is predominantly roasty chocolate with coffee and a hint of anise. Pretty good so far.

Here's where it goes south. The taste is surprisingly sweet, cloying, with slight cocoa and vanilla. Just way too darn sweet.

Mouthfeel is syrupy with no carbonation at all. Quite disappointing.

I tried to fight through, and I might've made it if it was only 12oz. I tried to let it warm (partially because I couldn't bring myself to drink it), but it didn't help at all. This turned out to be a rare drain pour for me.

Appearance - pours a cola black with brownish edge hues. Minimal head despite the rough pour. Light mocha head with good striped lacing.

Aroma - light crackery grain, some buttery diacetyl. After it settles it has a very butterscotchy nose. Okay, but is that how a schwarz should smell?

Taste - sweet malt, very sweet. Roasted grain, light diacetyl, coffee with sugar - make that sugars... No hop presence, which is desperately needed to take some of the edge off the overdone sweetness. Missed opportunity, I think with one-third the sugar this beer would contend.

Mouthfeel - thin and with low carbonation. My first thought is that this beer was flat, but I think it's where they intended.

Drinkability - way too sweet for me to session, though I reckon that provides some additional sustenance during a fast.

The taste is a surprise. Big hit of sweet light chocolate at first, and a mineral, almost watery raspberry tinge. There's an element of roasted malt which surfaces after the sweetness. A mildly bitter herbal aftertaste is the only indication that there may be some hops present.

Decent carbonation combined with the mineral chocolatiness produces the impression of a chocolate egg cream. The back label says "rich, roasty and very full-bodied". Actually seems rather not so very full-bodied. Has the body of a soda pop, maybe a bit syrupy - a fountain coke.

An odd juxtaposition of flavors. the cloying sweetness overpowers the malt and the whisper of hops. Not a good balance.

Initial smells are strong of caramel, hints of coffee and sweet malts.

Taste profile is very similar to the smell, dominant caramel flavor with hints of liquorice.

Mouthfeel is very light, body is small and carbonation also very light.

Aftertaste is an overpowering sweetness, almost to the point of making it unpleasing. I find this aftertaste spoils the rest of the experience of the beer, which has some complex and interesting elements to it.

The beer pours a deep dark black color with a thick frothy tan head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is awesome. It has a rich malty scent that boasts of crystal and roasted malts. It's sweet with a fruity yeast aroma. It's creamy with a chocolate feel. The taste is perfect. It is smooth and rich with a sweet burnt toffee flavor. It goes down very easy and finishes creamy with a fruity yeast character. The mouthfeel is great. It is a medium/full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is an exceptional beer. It is by far the best I've ever had tried of this style. I love everything about it; a good drinker. It's 7% abv., but you would never know it.

1 pint .9 ounce bottle. Black Abbot pours out a nearly black color with almost no head. The aroma is chocolatey and overly sweet smelling. Even the sweet smell didn't prepare me for the flavor. It tastes like a cup of sugar was dumped in this beer. Sweet and chocolatey with little carbonation. There's a little bit or roasted malty flavor, but it is dominated by the sugary flavor. The finish is the worst part - it leaves a taste in your mouth like you ate a spoonful of sugar. This is a real disappointment. I'm surprised, since their other Schwarzbier (Badebier) is pretty good.

Presentation: A distinctive looking black, gold and cream colored label sits affront the ubiquitous standard looking Teutonic 500ml brown glass bottle. A cream colored middle section has a dark blue triangle that has an image of a jovial looking Monk fondling a large golden stein. Brewed by Neuzeller Kloster-Bräu and listed as Black Abbot Lager and listed as a Rare Black Beer from Germanys Monastery Brewery Founded 1589 the taste of paradise. Dated 14.07.04, which I presume (hope!) is the actual bottling date as this was advertised as a new brew at the store where I bought it.

Appearance: Very dark black body which had a murky look to it. Quickly after the pour the tan colored head relaxes to a thin covering, creamy looking but thin.

Taste: Light milk chocolate drenched in a sickly black treacle sweet middle. I struggled to get beyond this part of the Black Abbot to be honest and lost interest in even trying to explain this, but if I could sum it up quickly it would be something like tastes like a Fizzy Sweet Supermarket brand Cola meets a Cold Cup of Coffee and 10 spoonfuls of Sugar. Far too unbalanced & extremely heavy on the sweetness. Not good.

Mouthfeel: Nice enough but by now the Mouthfeel was the least of my concerns. The conditioning supports the brew nicely though but the sickly nature means that I couldnt care less if it did because its like one of the sugary cheap and nasty Sodas which I love to hate.

Drinkability: I didnt actually finish the whole bottle; I had some hot food calling my name from the Oven so I left the last third of the bottle, good job I guess as I really didnt take to this one.

Overall: As with the other Neuzeller Kloster-Bräu brews, this cost me only $2.99 for yet another rarely seen Germanic offering from Hollingshead Delicatessen in Orange during a recent visit.